Agenda and Minutes for monthly meeting 15 May 2014

Singleton Parish Council
Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held at the Village Hall, Singleton
on 15 May 2014 at 7.45 pm

Present: – Cllrs Lee (New Chair), Bailey (New Vice Chair), Chew Gallagher and Smith and the Parish Clerk, Verena Henderson, who took the Minutes. One member of the public attended and towards the end of the meeting County Councillor Paul Hayhurst attended.
1. Apologies – None

2. Declaration of Interests

Cllr Chew declared a personal and professional interest in item 11 and Cllr Gallagher declared an interest in the planning application for Windy Harbour caravan site.

3. Minutes of Previous Meeting and any Matters Arising

The Minutes of the previous meeting, held on 24 April 2014 were agreed as a true and correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Matters arising

• The Clerk had contacted the Insurance Company regarding their quotation for 2014/15, which had risen quite considerably. After consideration they had agreed with Aviva for the premium to remain the same as last year at £682.34. In addition, if the Parish Council signed a 3-year agreement there would be a further 5% discount making a premium of £648.22. It was unanimously agreed that the 3-year option would be taken out and the Clerk was thanked for her work in this regard.
• The Clerk had contacted Lyndsey Hooper at the Police concerning the parked cars causing an obstruction at the end of Church Road and this had been acknowledged and passed on to the Neighbourhood Policing Team.
• Cllr Chew told the meeting that she was bitterly disappointed in the lack of police presence in Singleton in recent months. No police report had been received and we keep having a change of staff. She has heard that Lyndsey Hooper is now being moved to Blackpool. An abandoned car had been on Mains Lane for over 2 weeks and despite being reported, nothing had been done about it. Cllr Bailey had recently been introduced to PCSO Angela Slater who has worked this beat before. The Clerk will forward details about the new Neighbourhood Policing Team to all councillors.

4. Open Forum –

None

5. Police and PACT Report –

None
6. Traffic issues

• Work has started on Garstang Road on the A586 at Poulton. There is a 30mph speed limit through the road works and this seems to be working well.
• United Utilities had carried out repairs to the damaged grass verges on the top of Pool Foot Lane.
• Problems with the traffic lights at the roundabout on the A585 at the M55 junction had caused tail-backs to Thornton earlier this week. Greenhalgh Parish Council had complained repeatedly about these lights which fail at regular intervals and had asked for Singleton’s support as these had now had an impact on us. People had complained about 5 minute journeys taking ¾ hours along Mains Lane. It was agreed to write to the Highways Agency to ask that something be done to improve these lights.
• Mains Lane – The Highways Agency is not happy with United Utilities traffic plan and their inability to manage the traffic flow. Until they come up with a better plan the work is on hold. As regards the work required to the sewerage system, most people have signed up to it and it will be carried out at some stage.
• The 20mph is currently out for consultation and this will be taking place up until 12 June. Once this date has passed, all being well all that is needed to do is to put up the new signs and re-site the 30mph signs.

7. Correspondence

• Email from Catherine Kitching, Conservation Planning Officer at Fylde BC that work is to start on the fire station on 2nd June.
• Email from Chief Executive’s Office at Fylde BC asking for Parish Clerks to record what services are currently delivered by Parish Councils. Arranging grass cutting, maintaining the car park and children’s play area and insuring same immediately spring to mind but the Clerk will meet with Cllr Chew and complete a full list together.

8. Planning Matters and Decisions

• 14/0288 Wheelhouse, Station Road, Singleton, FY6 8LQ – Proposed conversion from 1 dwelling into two dwellings including installation of additional doors, windows and roof-lights to facilitate conversion – No specific observations.
• 24/0269 – Windy Harbour, FY6 8NB – Proposed erection of single storey extension to reception building to form additional office space. Cllr Gallagher left the room and did not take part in this discussion. No specific observations.

9.
Standing Orders

It was agreed, because of the complexity of these documents, for the Clerk to look at these again and send an electronic copy to each councillor. We may need to look at these over a period of time but we need to get them right.

Litter Pick
Mr Mark Bomber had asked this item to be discussed at the Parish meeting because he hated seeing litter in and around the parish and suggested having a combined litter pick and do this as a sort of community get-together. He felt this would be a way of people getting to know each other better as well as cleaning up the village. It was suggested to him that just before Singleton Gala might be a good time to get people together and Cllr Chew offered to mention something in the next newsletter which would be out in July and ask for volunteers.
11.
Grass Cutting and Planting Contracts for 2014/15

Cllr Chew left the room and did not take part in this discussion.

Grasscutting

The Clerk had asked three firms to quote for this work, in addition to the present contractor who had submitted a revised quotation, but only one further quotation had been received. It was agreed to wait a further week and for the Clerk to email the results of the quotations to Cllrs Lee, Bailey, Gallagher and Smith and for them to come to a decision.

Planting tubs

The Clerk had asked three people to quote, but only two had responded. The quotes received were as follows:-

It was proposed by Cllr Gallagher and seconded by Cllr Smith that the contract be awarded once again to John Chew and agreed. It was also commented that John Chew puts in a lot of his personal time free of charge for the village and as a gesture of thanks an additional £50 per season should be added to his quotation making the Summer Planting £395 and the Winter planting £280. This was also proposed by Cllr Gallagher, seconded by Cllr Smith and agreed.

• Puzzlewood – The Mayor had officially opened this on 3rd May and was so impressed with it that she mentioned it in her speech at a later official mayoral event at Fylde BC. The day was extremely well attended with approximately 50 adults and 20 children. The Clerk was asked to write to David Kay to express the Parish Council’s gratitude for all his hard work.
• Sam Schofield of Cuadrilla had said that any monies coming to an area would only come once that area has been fracked. Singleton for the moment is not to be fracked. Cllr Chew had reminded him that Singleton was the first area to experience exploration and had experienced all sorts of difficulties and should this not be taken into consideration?
• Cuadrilla are offering another opportunity for councillors to visit a site. The Clerk will forward details.

• County Councillor Paul Hayhurst is one of several councillors who have access to a fund to provide defibrillators. Cty Cllr Hayhurst explained that the plan was to set these up in schools but he didn’t have a big enough school in his area. He therefore wondered about the Village Hall which would be available to the whole community. It was felt to be a very good idea and this will be pursued.
• The Clerk from Weeton has been in touch with Cllr Chew about the SPID as she feels the battery needs replacing as it keeps running down. Would we be happy to go halves with this and it was agreed we would.
• The Gala is going ahead but with a shorter parade. No one from Singleton came forward for the necessary training and the Road Services unit have been asked to supply two men. The County Council have relaxed a little on their previous demands as these were hitting many galas up and down the county.
• Next meeting with the Trust. 21st May no good for the Trust. June was no good for some members of the Parish Council and 1st July seemed to be the best option. Cllr Lee will contact the Trust and see if arrangements can be made.
• Cllr Chew and the Clerk would meet up on 16 May to talk about improving the web site and how to start off the procedure to set up neighbourhood planning.
• New fence. Two quotes received so far – £2,800 and £2,500. Cllr Gallagher would ask if the gaps between the strips of wood could be slightly wider. This fence would be around the play area up to the Village Hall and would protect the hedge.
• Don Sidebottom of Glasden has kindly donated a bench to put in Puzzlewood.
14. Date and Time of next meetings

The next three meetings will take place at the Village Hall at 7.30 pm on the following dates: –

19 June 31 July 21 August

As there was no further business, the meeting closed at 9.25pm and County Councillor Paul Hayhurst and Mr Bomber were thanked for their attendance.